Taliban leaders deny that leader is dead

Elena Becatoros and Zarar Khan, Associated Press

Published
4:00 am PDT, Sunday, August 9, 2009

(FILES) An undated photo from 2004 shows Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud speaking as he arrives for a meeting in South Waziristan. Pakistan said on August 7 it believed that wanted Taliban warlord Baitullah Mehsud was killed in a US drone attack, which if confirmed would score a coup in the US-led fight against Islamist militants. The death of the notorious commander could deal a heavy blow to the sizeable Taliban movement commanded by Mehsud, who has a five-million-dollar US bounty on his head after Washington branded him "a key Al-Qaeda facilitator". Tribesmen said on condition of anonymity that Mehsud was killed with his wife when a US drone fired two missiles into a family home in the Laddah area of South Waziristan on August 5. AFP PHOTO/A MAJEED (Photo credit should read A Majeed/AFP/Getty Images) less

(FILES) An undated photo from 2004 shows Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud speaking as he arrives for a meeting in South Waziristan. Pakistan said on August 7 it believed that wanted Taliban warlord ... more

Photo: A Majeed, AFP/Getty Images

Photo: A Majeed, AFP/Getty Images

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(FILES) An undated photo from 2004 shows Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud speaking as he arrives for a meeting in South Waziristan. Pakistan said on August 7 it believed that wanted Taliban warlord Baitullah Mehsud was killed in a US drone attack, which if confirmed would score a coup in the US-led fight against Islamist militants. The death of the notorious commander could deal a heavy blow to the sizeable Taliban movement commanded by Mehsud, who has a five-million-dollar US bounty on his head after Washington branded him "a key Al-Qaeda facilitator". Tribesmen said on condition of anonymity that Mehsud was killed with his wife when a US drone fired two missiles into a family home in the Laddah area of South Waziristan on August 5. AFP PHOTO/A MAJEED (Photo credit should read A Majeed/AFP/Getty Images) less

(FILES) An undated photo from 2004 shows Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud speaking as he arrives for a meeting in South Waziristan. Pakistan said on August 7 it believed that wanted Taliban warlord ... more

Photo: A Majeed, AFP/Getty Images

Taliban leaders deny that leader is dead

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Senior Taliban commanders denied that their leader, Baitullah Mehsud, had been killed in a CIA missile strike, while conflicting reports emerged late Saturday of a clash between rival Taliban factions during a meeting to choose a successor. Interior Minister Rehman Malik said authorities had received information about a fight breaking out during a meeting between groups led by Hakimullah, one of the Taliban's most powerful commanders, and Waliur Rehman. Both are believed to be top contenders to replace Mehsud should reports of his death in Wednesday's strike prove true.

"We had the information that one of them is dead. So the information is being verified. We need to see the dead bodies, we need to do some DNA, we need to have something solid," Malik told local television.

He said the incident occurred Friday. However, Hakimullah spoke to an AP reporter on Saturday morning, when he called to claim that Mehsud was alive.

A senior government official, who could not be named due to the sensitivity of the situation, cast doubt on the claim.

He said there were reports of a clash among Taliban guards at a meeting Saturday evening and indications some people had been wounded, but that there was no credible information to suggest any of the Taliban leaders were among them.

Another Taliban commander, Noor Sayed, denied to The Associated Press that there had been any quarrel between rival Taliban factions. The conflicting reports came as Taliban commanders, including Hakimullah, insisted Mehsud, suspected in the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and numerous suicide attacks across Pakistan, was alive despite assertions he was killed during a missile strike on his father-in-law's house in South Waziristan.

On Friday, four intelligence officials acknowledged that authorities did not have his body as proof. Mehsud's aide Kafayat Ullah told the AP on Friday that Mehsud was killed with one of his two wives in his stronghold in South Waziristan, while on Saturday, Malik told Pakistani television there were "confirmed reports" that Mehsud was dead. He did not elaborate.

Yet three Taliban fighters - Hakimullah, Qari Hussain, who is known for training suicide bombers, and Taliban spokesman Maulvi Umar - called AP reporters and insisted their leader was alive.

" But the Taliban commanders offered no proof, and the claim could be aimed at keeping militants unified until a successor could be found.

Mehsud's Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan is more a loose alliance of groups operating in Pakistan's lawless and mountainous tribal region near the border with Afghanistan, rather than one cohesive organization. Taking out the man who coordinated the factions could lead to fierce rivalry over who will succeed him, and it could be in the interests of the top commanders to deny their leader was dead until they could agree on who will replace him.